Officials Investigating Southwest Flight That Departed From Closed Runway

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating an incident involving a Southwest flight that took off from a temporarily closed runway last week.

The incident occurred in the early hours of June 25 at Portland International Jetport (KPWM), when a Southwest Boeing 737 took off on Runway 29 at 5:43 a.m.—two minutes before the runway and tower were set to open.

According to LiveATC.net, controllers made several attempts to warn the crew of Flight 4805 that the runway was still closed. At the time, an airport vehicle was on the runway conducting an inspection.

The warnings went unheeded as the Southwest crew was communicating on another frequency with regional air traffic controllers near Boston. When the Boston controller informed Southwest that the runway they had departed from was closed, the pilot remarked, “I thought it opened at 45 [minutes past the hour]. There were no markings or anywhere.”

The controller replied, “It did open at 45, but you departed at 42.” Southwest responded, “That’s not what we’re showing, but OK.” 

An investigation is underway, and Southwest said it would cooperate with investigators to understand the circumstances of the departure.